The hinged decklid of an automobile selectively encloses the trunk thereof and incorporates a decklid latch mechanism which retains the decklid in a locked, closed position until being selectively unlocked via exterior insertion of a key or, optionally, by an electronic actuator of the decklid latch mechanism activated by a remote transmitter and/or button situated in the passenger compartment.
Decklid latch mechanisms which further provide an internal manual actuation device having a trunk emergency release handle situated within the trunk are well known in the art, as for example described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,394,511 B1 and 6,369,395 B1. These systems are intended to be used by an individual who has untowardly become trapped in the trunk because the decklid has become locked in the closed position while the person is thereinside.
To gain his/her release from confinement within the trunk, this entrapped individual must become aware of the presence of the trunk emergency release handle and the mode by which it is manually used to actuate the decklid latch mechanism—which awareness likely will only first occur at the commencement of the individual's untoward confinement. In order to render this awareness readily available and intuitively obvious even to a young child, in the prior art two aspects of a trunk emergency release handle have been developed: 1) a pictorial representation from which an onlooker can readily apprehend the purpose and use of the emergency release handle; and 2) an illumination of the pictorial representation, in that a closed decklid renders the interior space of the trunk dark even in daylight.
An example of a luminous pictorialized trunk emergency release handle is utilized by General Motors Corporation of Detroit, Mich., on certain of its vehicles at least as early as 2001, shown at FIGS. 1A and 1B. An automobile 10 has a trunk 12 having an interior space 14. A hinged decklid 16 is pivotable between an open position (as shown) to a closed position, wherein the interior space 14 is completely enclosed. A decklid latch mechanism 18, including a first latch component 18a on the decklid and a second latch component 18b at a sidewall 12a of the trunk, wherein when the decklid is at its closed position, it is locked closed by the decklid latch mechanism (see for example the decklid latch mechanism described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,394,511 B1), wherein a trunk emergency release handle 20 is connected thereto by a cable linkage 22. The trunk emergency release handle is T-shaped and composed of a luminous material, as for example a phosphorescent material, wherein a pictorial representation 24 is provided thereupon, as for example by pad printing (see FIG. 1B). The pictorial representation 24 is, for example, that of an automobile with an open trunk 24a, a caricature of a person in an exiting mode of movement 24b, and an arrow 24c showing how to pull on the trunk emergency release handle to operate the decklid latch mechanism to thereby secure release. This pictorial representation 24 is suited to inform a small child of what to do to secure his/her release from the confined space of the trunk.
A second example of a trunk emergency release handle is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,029,238 B2, which discloses a trunk emergency release handle of T-shape, having a pictorial representation of an automobile with an open trunk, a caricature of a person in an exiting mode of movement, and an arrow showing how to pull on the trunk emergency release handle to operate the decklid latch mechanism to thereby secure release, wherein this pictorial representation is also suited to inform a small child of what to do to secure his/her release from the confined space of the trunk. In U.S. Pat. No. 7,029,238 B2, the trunk emergency release handle is composed of a luminous material, as for example a phosphorescent material, wherein the pictorial representation is provided in the form of iconic holes in the material.
A problem of the conventional trunk emergency release handle used for trunk extrication is that the luminous material thereof is costly. Accordingly, a benefit can be realized if the luminous material can somehow be minimized with respect to the over-all structure of the trunk emergency release handle.